Amtrak is facing its first lawsuit stemming from the train crash that killed eight and injured over 200 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. The plaintiff is a railway employee who was injured while hitching a free ride on the train.

Bruce A. Phillips is an Amtrak dispatcher who was traveling in
one of the last of the seven cars on Northeast
Regional Train 188 when it crashed. He was
“deadheading” from Philadelphia to New York City,
meaning his trip was free of charge as an off-duty employee “for
the convenience of Amtrak and to promote Amtrak’s interstate
railroad , according to the
court documents.

Phillips claims he was “violently hurled about the railcar,
striking his body on numerous parts of the railcar interior,
before slamming onto the floor, as a result of which he sustained
permanent personal injuries.”

He is one of the 11 passengers who remains hospitalized at Temple
University Hospital as of Thursday afternoon, although it is
unclear whether Phillips is one of the six people who is still in
critical condition. Mayor Michael Nutter said that 43 people were
still patients at area hospitals during a press conference just
before 2:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Phillips sustained a traumatic brain injury, multiple cuts and
bruises on his body, multiple orthopedic and neurological
injuries and emotional trauma. “The full extent of the
plaintiff’s injuries is not presently known,” the court
filing says.

He “has suffered a loss and impairment of earnings and
earning power and will suffer the same for an indefinite time in
the future; has undergone great physical pain and mental anguish…
will have to expend large sums of money in the future [due to]
his aforesaid injuries… all to his great detriment and
loss.”

Phillips is seeking more than $150,000 in his suit, claiming that
Amtrak’s negligence led to his injuries.

Amtrak ‒ individually or through its engineer, Brandon Bostian,
who is not named as a defendant ‒ caused the crash by, among
other things, “failing to properly and safely operate the
train, operating the train at a speed and in a manner that was
unsafe in light of the geographic conditions and the train and
track configuration... failing to provide available, necessary
and appropriate systems to slow and/or stop the train… and to
properly oversee and control the movement of the train,”
regardless of whether the engineer failed to operate the train at
an appropriate speed or there was a technical issue that caused
the derailment, the lawsuit claims.

Phillips’ wife, Kalita Phillips, is also listed as a plaintiff in
the suit. She is claiming loss of consortium, meaning she has
been deprived of the benefits of a family relationship due to
injuries. Together the couple is also claiming punitive damages
against Amtrak.

The law firm representing the Phillips, Coffey Kaye Myers &
Olley, is no stranger to suits against Amtrak. They represented
claimants against the rail line 13 times between 2010 and 2013,
according to records from
Amtrak Management Advisory Report on injury claims trend
data, via the Office of Inspector General.

Amtrak’s train 188 accelerated
to 106 mph in an 80 mph zone in the minute before the
derailment on Tuesday night. Due to a sharp curve, the speed
limit drops to 50 mph. Just before entering that turn, Bostian
applied emergency braking, slowing the train slightly, to 102
mph. Seconds later, the train tilted 10 degrees to the right,
before derailing.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the
incident, including interviewing Bostian, who suffered a
concussion and has no recollection of the moments before and
during the crash.